The indefinite suspension order issued by the Office of the Building Officials against the construction of the two-storey Gaisano Capital building in barangay Tisa may be lifted soon following Mayor Tomas Osmeña's statement that he will allow the construction to continue provided that the contractor would make the assurance that the building is safe.

THE Gaisanos, who own the building in Bara-ngay Tisa where a firewall collapsed last April 8, can expect "gentle" treatment from Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, but it does not mean the City will not file a case against them or their contractor.

MANILA, Philippines - Church leaders in the Catholic Philippines said on Monday they would relocate an American priest after they found out he was convicted of sexual misconduct when he was a seminarian in 1988.

Father Joseph Skelton is to be moved from his ministry in central Tagbilaran city where he has served for years to a still undisclosed place, an official at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.

"The CBCP will issue an official statement on the matter within the next few days," a spokesman for the conference who did not want to be named, told AFP.

The spokesman declined to comment further, but referred AFP to a story published on the conference's official website at the weekend.

That article also said Skelton would be moved, but emphasised he was due for transfer to another assignment within the Tagbilaran diocese before news of the scandal broke.

The website story on the website said the bishops only found out in November that Skelton was convicted of sexual misconduct when he was a seminarian in Detroit, Michigan, in 1988.

"Had I known of his conviction, I would not have ordained him," the website quoted Tagbilaran's former bishop, Leopoldo Tumulak, as saying.

Tumulak served in Tagbilaran from 1992 to 2005, and it was during this period that Skelton was ordained.

Tumulak described Skelton as "happy, contented and very particular in celebrating the liturgy meaningfully and well," the website said.

Skelton has refused to discuss the case, according to the bishops' website, and calls by AFP to the Tagbilaran diocese on Monday went unanswered.

The conference did not give other details about Skelton's background and no explanation was given as to why he was allowed to continue to serve after his history of sexual abuse was uncovered.

Bishop-accountability.org, a US-based non-profit website that tracks sexual abuses in the church, said he resigned from the Michigan seminary in 1988 after pleading guilty to abusing a 15 year-old boy.

The Philippines is Asia's bastion of Catholicism, and details about Skelton past have surfaced amid a string of sexual abuse cases rocking the church.

Members of the Eversley Child Sanitaruim Employees Union are asking the regional director of the Department of Health -7 to place under preventive suspension their Chief of Hospital and their Chief of Clinics following charges filed against them for alleged administrative offenses.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas has assigned 60 policemen to areas where possible election-related incidents might occur during the May 10 elections.

The policemen have been tasked to prevent the eruption of violence in these areas during elections and immediately after the elections, PNP-8 community relations chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Cubillo said on Monday.

"We want the conduct of the elections in these areas to be peaceful and orderly as possible. That is why, these policemen are now on standby, ready to be deployed to any of these areas," Cubillo said.

The 60 policemen are assigned at the regional police headquarters located at Camp Ruperto Kangleon, Palo town in Leyte.

Cubillo also said that if needed, the PNP regional headquarters would assign its administrative personnel to conflict areas.

The PNP-8 earlier identified at least 54 areas where election-related violence could happen due to either intense political rivalry among candidates or the presence of armed men who were controlled by the politicians or were members of the New People's Army.

Twenty one of these areas are in Samar, 16 in Northern Samar, eight in Eastern Samar, six in Leyte, two in Biliran and one in Southern Leyte.

Cubillo said that so far, the entire region remained "peaceful" just less than a month before the conduct of the May 10 elections.

He said the police and the military in the region were coordinating with the regional office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make sure that the delivery of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in the region would be safe.

The Comelec has not disclosed the dates of the delivery of the PCOS machines in the region for security reasons.

The Comelec en banc issued last month its rules for the May 10 automated elections, in Resolution 8804.

But even then, Flores said, there still seems to be too much "reliance on the programming of the machine."

She cited how votes can be invalidated simply because the slot a voter should shade is not completely blackened. The rules do not state whether or not the vote should be considered valid during recount.

An election protest is defined as a petition questioning the election return of a victor.

For single-slot posts, only the candidate with the second or third highest number of votes can file the protest. For multi-slot positions, only the candidates within four ranks from after the winning group can file the protest.

The protest should be filed within 10 days of the proclamation of the winner.

According to Resolution 8804, the protestant should identify, in his or her petition, the protested precincts and protested votes through the Statement of Votes by Precinct.

The protest should also include a detailed specification of acts committed or omissions complained of while showing the electoral frauds, anomalies and irregularities in the protested precincts.

The protestee will have five days to answer the petition or file a counter-protest.

The counter-protest, just like the original protest, will carry the identified counter-protested precincts and votes.

Governors and congressmen supporting Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro will hold a strategy meeting in Cebu today to consolidate their forces for the final push in their campaign.

"We are trying to show you the real state of the city because Mayor Osmena has been projecting a very rosy picture of the city. That we have so much surplus pero the real state of the city right now, the city is really suffering. Naa silay nakita nga kuwarta sa Filinvest ug sa SM pero unsa may ilang gihimo, imbes i-appropriate for basic services ang gihimo nila they're into vote buying spree," nagkanayon si Guardo.

"SRP, as it is intended, should be a catalyst of economic growth, create jobs for the people and should not financially burden the city. I want SRP to succeed that is why we need change," ang pamahayag sa Lapok campaign.

Senate President and reelectionist Juan Ponce Enrile said on Monday that in the "extreme possibility" that a nationwide failure of elections occurs on May 10, he will immediately convene Congress "not later than Friday of that week, announce that there was no election of president and vice-president," and follow the rules on succession.

MANILA, Philippines — The P690-million contract for ballot secrecy folders, cancelled by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allegedly being overpriced, has just become more questionable.

Documents obtained by abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak indicate that there could have been collusion between poll officials and winning supplier One Time Carbon (OTC) Paper Supply to effectively do away with the bidding and ensure that OTC would bag the contract.

The Commission on Elections has printed nearly all of the 50.7 million ballots needed for the May 10 polls, and it expects to finish the task this week ahead of its April 25 deadline, an official said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved a proposal to conduct the random manual audit (RMA) right after voting closes on election day in May.

In a minute resolution dated April 15, the Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the technical working group to conduct an RMA at the polling precincts "immediately after" the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines complete all its functions.

"This arrangement debunks any perception that the integrity of the ballots has been compromised during the transfer of the ballot boxes from the precinct to the treasurer's office," it said.

Section 24 of Republic Act 9369 requires a RMA to be conducted in one precinct per congressional district in each province and city.

But after much prodding from groups, the poll body decided to increase this to five precincts per legislative district, which amount to 1,145 precincts.

Each clustered precinct which will have one PCOS machine can only have up to 1,000 voters, so the number of precincts in each clustered precinct depends on the number of voters in each individual precinct.

A total of 50,723,734 registered voters expected to flock the 76,340 clustered precincts nationwide on May 10.

However, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio said that the conduct of the audit after voting closes does not necessarily contradict to their previous pronouncements that there would be no RMA before the proclamation of the elections winners.

He said this is because the RMA wouldn't necessarily finish before the proclamation.

But he said that the Commission plans to release a more detailed guideline for the conduct of the RMA.

The minute resolution says that the random selection of the precincts to be audited will be done at the Comelec main office in Intramuros manila at 3 p.m. on election day.

The selection will be done manually through the drawing of precincts by the technical working group together with the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee as overseers. Other personalities may also be invited to watch.

The auditors will be the board of election inspectors (BEI) not belonging to the precinct being audited.

It said the BEIs would be informed in advance of the possibility of being assigned to do the traditional manual count in a neary different precinct.

The audit will be conducted in the presence of poll watchdogs, political parties, media, and the public.

The positions to be audited include all national positions and five local positions, namely congressman, governor, vice governor, mayor, and vice mayor.

In case of discrepancies, the Comelec Advisory Council has been tasked to determine its root cause.

Smartmatic Asia President Cesar Flores, for his part, said that the difference between the manual and digital count would be minimal.

"We believe in the system... go ahead open some ballots and see that there are no differences. And I can assure you, there will be no significant difference between the manual count and digital count," he said.

On the other hand, Larrazabal said that the poll body is still in the process of determining whether there is a need for a parallel manual count during the automated polls.

"It's being considered by the en banc right now and come out with the announcement in the coming days," he said.

THE PETITION for advance voting in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was submitted for resolution yesterday although officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) were not fully convinced to conduct voting in the region ahead of the May 10 automated polls.

Independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas said Monday he would formally ask the Commission on Elections to postpone the national automated elections by three months to give itself time to correct the "defects" of the system.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines A military spokesman on Monday denied that Las Pias Representatibe Cynthia Villar visited Andal Ampatuan Sr. at his hospital room inside Camp Panacan weeks ago in preparation for the dropping of charges against one of his sons and a relative in connection with the November 23 Maguindanao massacre.

Cynthia Villar is the wife of Nacionalista Party presidential candidate and Senator Manuel Villar.

But another military officer, who asked not to be named for not having been authorized to speak on the matter, said NP senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla visited Andal Sr. a month ago.

"He was here for less than an hour," the military officer said.

The same military officer said several Maguindanao town mayors also visited Andal Sr., to discuss the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial candidates they would campaign for in their respective towns.

MANILA, Philippines -- Maguindanao gubernatorial bet Esmael Toto Mangudadatu warned on Monday that acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra's decision to drop charges against two prominent members of the Ampatuan clan over the November 23 massacre was connected to a plot to cheat in the May 10 presidential elections.

Mangudadatu, currently the vice mayor of Buluan town in Maguindanao, arrived at the Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday afternoon to confirm for himself the news that Agra has scrapped the multiple murder charges against suspended Governor Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Akmad Ampatuan.

Mga Ampatuan magagaling sa election fraud. Magagaling yan. Si Zaldy yan ang expertise niya, kung paano gawin madaya ang resulta ng election. Palagay ko gagamitin yan. Hindi ko lang alam pero magagamit yan (The Ampatuans are very good in election fraud. That is Zaldy's expertise, how to manipulate the election results. I think he will be used. I'm not sure how but he will be used), he told reporters.

When he was asked who, he thought, would use Zaldy Ampatuan's influence for election cheating, he said he had A-1 information that a wife of a presidential candidate had visited the patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in his detention place in General Santos City about two weeks ago. (Andal Sr. had since been transferred to the Camp Bagong Diwa detention center in Taguig City.)

Pressed to identify the presidential candidate, he only dropped hints.

He said Liberal Party candidate Benigno Aquino III had no wife and added that administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro's wife had not been doing the rounds of the campaign on her own.

And then he pointed out that one of the Ampatuans expressed support for the presidential candidacy of Nacionalista Partys Senator Manuel Villar.

It's A-1 information from my feelers. She told me that the wife visited the old man Ampatuan Sr., said Mangudadatu, whose wife and sister were among the 57 people brutally killed then buried in shallow graves in Ampatuan, Maguindanao last November 23.

He said he was so disgusted with Agra's action and vowed to take all means available to prevent the release of the two Ampatuans.

We will do everything. The moment we receive the resolution we will file an MR (motion for reconsideration). We know that our MR will be denied. We will elevate the case to a higher court, Mangudadatu said in Filipino when interviewed at the Department of Justice office.

Before talking to reporters, he conferred with private prosecutor Nena Santos, who was at the DOJ office Monday to talk to state prosecutors.

The case is before the court anyway. The battle is (in the sala of Quezon City Regional Trial Court) Judge (Jocelyn) Solis-Reyes, Mangudadatu added.

MANILA, Philippines -- The country's top state prosecutors publicly defied their superior, Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra, over his controversial resolution last Friday clearing two prominent Ampatuan clan members of involvement in the massacre in Maguindanao last November.

No less than Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano led the protest of state prosecutors over Agra's resolution issued Friday afternoon absolving Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Puti Ampatuan and his cousin Mayor Akmad Tato Ampatuan Sr. of Mamasapano, Maguindanao from the murder case.

The Department of Justice is supposed to be the sword and shield of law and order. We are deeply concerned that the resolution will all the more convince a long skeptical public that our criminal justice system is impotent when the accused are politically influential, Arellano said in a statement he read at the steps of the Department of Justice building in Manila Monday morning.

We pray and hope that despite difficulties and setbacks, justice will ultimately be served to the victims of this tragedy. It is along this line that we earnestly and respectfully request Acting Secretary Agra to revisit this resolution," Arellano said.

Otherwise, we dishonor the primary reason for which our institution exists and its very name: the Department of Justice, he stressed.

He issued the statement on behalf of the members of the National Prosecution Service and the panel of prosecutors handling the multiple murder case filed against 197 suspects, including members of the Ampatuan clan and their supporters, for what has been considered the most brutal election-related killings committed in memory.

As professional career prosecutors, it pains us to publicly disagree with the resolution of the Secretary of Justice. We recognize the appellate jurisdiction of the Secretary and his authority over us, Arellano said.

But we being in the frontline still believe with due respect that there is probable cause to indict the two accused, he stressed.

Disputing Agra's claim that there was no witness against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan, Arellano said there was a witness who positively identified the two as among those who conspired to murder 57 people, 31 of whom were journalists, to prevent a political rival from running against Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. for Maguindanao governor.

It is a rule in evidence that positive identification by a witness prevails over a negative assertion. Interestingly and ironically, while Secretary Agra basically implies that witness Kenny Dalandag is very credible as to his positive identification of the other accused during the planning of the murders, he is not at all credible when he identified Zaldy Ampatuan, Arellano said.

He said the supposed plane tickets, flight manifests and phone statements submitted by Zaldy Ampatuan have yet to stand scrutiny through cross-examination in court.

The resolution basically redefined the plain and ordinary meaning of probable cause, he said.

"This is not the role of the DoJ in a preliminary investigation or in a petition for review. This is the sole function of the courts. Our task is merely to determine probable cause, Arellano stressed.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will send additional troops to Basilan to run after the Abu Sayyaf group and other lawless elements who continuously destroy and disturb the peace and order situation in the province, the military chief said.

Several military officers had met with opposition presidential bet Sen. Benigno Noynoy" Aquino III (Liberal Party) to express their fears on the possible failure of elections on May 10.

In an ambush interview Monday after an LP press briefing in Quezon City, Aquino said the officers were mostly members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) classes of 1977 and 1978, with some coming from younger batches" in the PMA.

I take it in the context na pare-pareho silang mamamayan na may mga concerns sa parating nating election at ine-express lang nila sa public servant, they are part of the public that I serve," he said.

(They, as citizens, have concerns about the upcoming elections, and they wanted to express those concerns to a public servant.)

Aquino, son of the late President Corazon Cory" Aquino and slain Sen. Benigno Ninoy" Aquino Sr., said he met with the groups of soldiers separately. He did not elaborate.

The PMA class of 1978 recently earned controversy after several of its members were appointed to key positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The batch includes President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as an honorary member.

AFP chief Gen. Delfin Bangit was a member of PMA class of 1978, as well as commanders of the Philippine Army and Philippine Air Force (PAF).

Administration critics said the appointment of PMA class of 1978 members could be part of a government plot to establish a military junta and keep President Arroyo in power in case the elections fail. The May 10 elections will be the first ever nationwide automated elections in the country.

Both Malacañang and the military have repeatedly denied the alleged junta plot.

Aquino said the groups of soldiers he talked to were concerned about how they should react if the elections fail since the military is one of the biggest stabilizing forces in the country."

There will be a lot of pressure on them to stabilize the situation. So they are also thinking what exactly their duty is," he said, adding that the soldiers have yet to figure out their possible response in case such situation arises.

Aquino said he merely listened to the soldiers concerns. I gave them an ear that was sympathetic to their concerns, to give them the idea that even their concerns are being addressed."

He added that he was very particular they [soldiers] will not be involved in partisan political activity."

MANILA, Philippines Armed Forces chief General Delfin Bangits decision to free 10 rebel soldiers came as a surprise, one of them admitted Monday.

In a press conference at his residence in Taguig City, which also serves as the headquarters for his group, the Magdalo, Lieutenant James Layug admitted that they were expecting Bangit to revoke the decision of the General Court Martial which recommended their release after they pleaded guilty to four charges over their participation in the November 2007 siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City.

With all the perception sa kanya [against him], we were really expecting na iipitin [that he would sit on it], Layug said.

It was a surprise for us that General Bangit upheld the decision of the general court martial. He was professional enough to uphold the general court martials decision, he added.

When asked by the media if they had struck an agreement with the military for their release, Layug said: Walang [There was no] agreement.

He added that friends and supporters had paid the P30,000 bail bond to the insurance company.

Layug said that the first thing that he did when he was released was go to church in Baclaran.

Now that he is free, Layug said he could now concentrate on his campaign for the congressional seat for Taguig Citys second district.

However, Layug admitted that since he was discharged from service, his salary and other benefits have been waived and that he would be relying on donations and sales of Magdalo t-shirts to fund his campaign.

Despite having barely three weeks to campaign before the automated polls in May 10, Layug said that he remained confident.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and senatorial candidate Brigadier General Danilo Lim, however, will remain detained pending resolution of their court martial cases in relation to their alleged participation in the 2003 mutiny and the 2007 Marine standoff at Fort Bonifacio, respectively.

The general court martial had dropped the mutiny charges against the Magdalo soldiers.

The Makati regional trial court branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda granted the 10 soldiers request for bail but remained detained in Camp Crame pending the military courts decision on their charges of conduct unbecoming an officer, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, disrespect to the President, and escape from confinement.

A week ago, the 10 soldiers were given an eight-month jail term after pleading guilty to the charges. However, the military court has deemed their jail term served since the soldiers had been detained since 2003.

MANILA, Philippines -- Eight renegade soldiers stepped out of a detention facility at Camp Crame on Monday, a day after Armed Forces Chief of Staff Delfin Bangit approved a military court order freeing them from prison.

We are very happy. We look forward to spending more time with our families, Torrato told reporters as he walked out of the jail compound.

We still maintain what we believed in then. We still feel the same, he said when asked if he regretted his decision to join the November 2007 Manila Peninsula takeover.

The group of junior military officers, known as the Magdalo, had been locked up inside the prison center since their arrest following the short-lived takeover of the Manila Peninsula hotel in what was perceived to be a staging point for a larger destabilization move against the Arroyo government.

The general court-martial sentenced them to eight months in prison after they pleaded guilty to four charges in connection with the takeover of the posh hotel in Makati City.

Capt. Gary Alejano and Lt. James Layug were released from prison on Sunday as they had earlier posted bail before a Makati court regarding the criminal cases they were facing.

We allowed their release from the custodial center after they were able to show us the copy of a court order for their discharge, said Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman.

Foreign and domestic investments in the Philippines will increase if Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III wins in the upcoming elections, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's former economic adviser said on Monday.

The national government sees income tax collections registering a 9.6 percent growth this year after it slipped last year, data from the Department of Finance (DoF) showed.

Backing on economic rebound, DoF sees taxes on net income and profits to be collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue would reach to P477.23 billion from P435.37 billion preliminary collection in 2009.

Income tax collections last year was 7.4 percent lower compared with the P470.34 billion target for the period due to the slowing economy. The gross domestic product grew 0.9 percent in 2009 from 3.8 percent in the previous year.

The GDP is expected to grow between 2.6 percent and 3.6 percent this year.

The government sees corporate income tax collected by the BIR rising 9 percent to P277.47 billion this year from P2254.37 billion despite the reduction in the minimum corporate income tax rate to 30 percent from 35 percent.

Income tax collected from individual taxpayers will increase by 9.4 percent to P143 billion from P130.6 billion despite the tax relief law that exempted minimum wage earners from withholding tax and increased the amount of personal exemptions.

At least 3,000 employees of Philippine Airlines, up to 400 in Cebu, are feared to lose their jobs by end of next month after the country's flag carrier reportedly decided to end its in-flight catering services, airport services and call center reservations and its support units.

MANILA, PhilippinesPhilippine Airlines (PAL) employees on Monday held a motorcade on Monday in protest at a massive retrenchment to be implemented on May 31.

An estimated 3,000 employees, or more than half of the total PAL workforce, will be laid off due to the closure of the in flight catering services, airport services (which includes ground, cargo, and ramp handling), and call center reservations including all support units.

The motorcade of some 40 cars and motorcycles started around 11:30 a.m. at the PAL Center located at the PNB Compound along the Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City. The motorcade moved on to Nichols airport terminal then onto the PAL In Flight Center (IFC) along Airport Road in Paranaque and finally ended at the Terminal 3 of the airport.

Gerry Rivera, newly elected president of the PAL Employees Association (Palea) and vice chairman of the party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), said the spin-off aims to outsource work to companies also owned by Lucio Tan where workers will be non-union and thus receive cheaper wages, fewer benefits, and have no security of tenure.

Regular workers will be retired and then rehired as contractuals. This has happened before when work was spun off to Lufthansa Technik and Macro Asia, in which Lucio Tan both had major interests. Employees retrenched from PAL because of the spin-off were employed by Macro Asia and Lufthansa Technik on new contracts.

Meanwhile, PM chairman Renato Magtubo expressed support to the struggle of the PAL workers.

We challenge the presidential candidates to state their position on the scourge of contractualization and their platform on job generation. The workers are not satisfied with motherhood statements but want to hear concrete programs, Magtubo said.

Rivera explained that the motorcade is only the opening salvo in the fight against massive layoff in PAL. Last years plans to spin-off the same departments were stopped by PAL workers protests led by Rivera.

Spin-off is not a solution to company losses but a scheme to contractualize labor and raise more profit not from better efficiency of work but from greater exploitation of workers, Rivera said.

Palea was furnished a memo by PAL president and CEO Jaime Bautista dated April 16 which announced the planned layoff. Before the motorcade, the Palea protesters attended a hearing at the Metro Manila office of the labor department for an inter-pleader filed by PAL management.

The PAL union is alleging that an election protest filed by losing candidates in union elections held last February is part of the scheme to weaken Palea in the face of the fight against spin-off and layoff.

My sources tell me that San Miguel chairman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuanco may cash out of San Miguel Corporation and pass on the torch to a consortium led by his peers -- former Trade Minister Roberto "Bobby" V. Ongpin and San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang -- before the elections.

MANILA, Philippines - Telecommunication companies offering 3G (third-generation) mobile services paid a total of P460 million in fees this year for the use of frequencies which were awarded by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to them 5 years ago.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm), said on Friday that electricity price at the power market has increased to P12.96 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in March from P11.29/kWh in February but had no comment on how it would impact on consumer billings.

JIEGU, China - Heavy construction machinery and trucks carrying aid to earthquake survivors clogged streets on Monday morning as this shattered town in remote western China turned to rebuilding, and search teams and other rescuers left.

BAGHDAD – U.S. and Iraqi forces killed the two top al-Qaida figures in the country in a nighttime rocket attack on a safe house near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, a joint operation the U.S. called a significant blow to the insurgency and a sign Iraqi security forces are strengthening.

Al-Qaida in Iraq has remained a potent force, seeking recently to sow chaos after the March 7 elections and ahead of a planned U.S. troop withdrawal. The terror group has shown a remarkable ability to change tactics and adapt despite repeated blows to its leadership.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at anews conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody corpses. The deaths were later confirmed by U.S. military officials.

The Iraqi leader said ground forces surrounded a house and used rockets to kill the two, who were hiding inside. The U.S. military said an American helicopter crashed during the assault, killing one U.S. soldier.

In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden called the killing of the two a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq.

U.S. forces commander Gen. Raymond Odierno praised the operation.

"The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al-Qaida in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency," he said. "There is still work to do but this is a significant step forward in ridding Iraq of terrorists."

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the operation targeting the two leaders showed the growing capability of Iraqi security forces.

U.S. military officials have been highlighting the role of Iraqi security forces in the country as a way to demonstrate their ability to take over security as American forces draw down. Under a plan by President Barack Obama, all combat forces will be out of Iraq by the end of August, leaving about 50,000 U.S. forces in the country for such roles as trainers and support personnel.

Al-Maliki described the deaths as "a quality blow breaking the back of al-Qaida."

Al-Masri was the shadowy national leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, which he took over after its Jordanian-born founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a June 2006 U.S. airstrike. Al-Masri's real name was Abdul-Monim al-Badawi, according to a 2009 al-Qaida statement describing the makeup of a new "War Cabinet."

Al-Qaida in Iraq emerged after al-Zarqawi pledged his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, leader of the global al-Qaida network, in October 2004. It has survived a series of setbacks in recent years.

At its height, the group was able to inflame sectarian violence so intense that some described it as a civil war.

Though al-Qaida has shown it is still capable of staging its hallmark coordinated suicide attacks against high-profile targets in the heart of the capital, U.S. and Iraqi military operations have diminished its power since the height of the violence several years ago.

A revolt against al-Qaida by Sunni Arab tribes in Western Iraq in late 2006 and 2007 deprived the group of its main bases of support. Taking advantage of the vulnerability, the U.S. pummeled the group during the 2007 troop surge.

Al-Qaida in Iraq has been led primarily by foreigners, but Iraqis form its backbone. At its height, it was estimated at close to 10,000 fighters but it is believed to have dropped off in recent years.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian, kept a lower public profile than al-Zarqawi, who appeared in militant videos on the Web including one in which he personally beheaded American Nicholas Berg.

The deaths are a significant boost for al-Maliki, who has staked his reputation on being the man who can restore stability to Iraq after years of bloodshed.

The news came as Iraq's election commission announced it would recount ballots cast in Baghdad in the March 7 election, after al-Maliki's State of Law coalition raised accusations of fraud and irregularities in the capital as well as four other provinces.

Al-Maliki's coalition is currently trailing one led by a secular challenger, Ayad Allawi, and the recount could potentially give the Iraqi prime minister the lead.

BANGKOK - Frustrated European travelers stranded overseas struggled to find alternate routes home, desperate for information on flights into the continent"s few airports not closed by a dangerous cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano.

CARACAS, Venezuela Former boxing champ Edwin Valero committed suicide in his jail cell on Monday just hours after he was arrested in his wife's killing, police said.

The former lightweight champion used his own clothes to hang himself in his cell early Monday, Venezuelan Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero tied his clothes to a cell bar to hang himself.

He said Valero was found by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state. Valero still showed signs of life, but they were unable to save him, Flores said.

The 28-year-old was detained Sunday on suspicion of killing his wife, the gravest in a string of problems that had threatened to derail his career. Prosecutors said Sunday night that they had planned to charge Valero after they found the body of his 24-year-old wife in a hotel in Valencia.

The boxer left the hotel room around dawn Sunday and allegedly told security he had killed Jennifer Viera, Flores said.

The fighter was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of President Hugo Chavez tattooed on his chest, along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.

His all-action style and 27-0 record all by knockouts earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser. Venezuelans called him "Inca," alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita," or dynamite.

The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion had been in trouble with the law before.

Last month, Valero was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for a series of injuries, including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Viera from speaking to the police officer, and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.

The Attorney General's Office said a prosecutor had asked a court to order Valero jailed but that the judge instead placed him under a restraining order that barred him from going near his wife, a condition he repeatedly violated.

But Cortes's rival, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, pointed out a different potential explanation for the event. "Kinsa man ang nanganak, dili ba ang babayeng kabayo (Isn't it the female who gave birth)?"

Last Nov. 30, the mayor's horses Ella and King Ferdinand landed in the news when they went astray and entered an ancestral property of the Ruiz clan. Only a 10-foot-high concrete fence separates the Ruiz and Cortes properties in Barangays Centro and Alang-Alang.

Back then, both camps tried to give the incident their own spin.

Cortes said his horses were brave enough to enter a rival's territory. "Nanuong," he said.

Ruiz said the horses decided to join the better group. "Nitapon," she said.

At 11 p.m. last Feb. 11, four-year old Ella gave birth to a colt, said stable head Marianito Siat. The colt was named Lord.

Last April 9, another mare at the Cortes rest house in Barangay Casili also gave birth to a colt.

This is a portent, said Cortes, of the election results ahead. "Lalaki jud ang palingkuron nga mayor dinhi sa Mandaue (A man will be picked to serve as mayor of Mandaue)," said the first-term mayor.

When sought for reaction, Ruiz pointed out it is the mare that deserves credit for delivering and caring for her offspring.

"Igo ra nga gipahimugso ang mga anak (All the offspring had to do was get born)," she said.

The candidates' fate will finally be decided on May 10, when Mandaue City's 182,813 voters pick the next mayor. But right now, it's anybody's (horse) race.

Former administration stalwart Albay governor Joey Salceda informed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of his departure from ruling party Lakas-Kampi-CMD in favor of the Liberal Party (LP) through a text message.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand man who left his 18-month-old boy unattended in a car while he visited a strip club has been convicted of leaving a child without reasonable supervision and fined.